405 Chapter 405: Absolute Zero

The Frenzor Assassin evidently didn't appreciate the joke. He continued to charge forward with a terrifying bellow. Even though hundreds of mana bolts and laser fire struck him, he kept on going, an unstoppable juggernaut of ferocity.

In the face of such a horrifying foe, I calmly stepped forward. Partially to shield my comrades from the berserker's charge, and partially to execute my technique. Turning Hei Yue so that the tip of its black blade faced the ground, I plunged it into the concrete and whispered a single incantation.

\"Absolute Zero.\"

Atop my shoulder, my chibi Black Tortoise stiffened and then he allowed dozens of azure strands of mana to flow out of him and into my sword.

Then the whole place froze in an instant. The corridor turned into a tundra, and the Frenzor Assassin was encased entirely in an icy tomb, suspended in mid-charge.

\"…eh?\"

Jamie and the mercenaries could hardly believe what they had just seen. I turned away from the frozen Assassin, retrieving Hei Yue and then sheathing it along with Bai Ri.

\"He won't be getting out of that for a while,\" I informed the stunned Jamie. For some reason I felt really exhausted. Absolute Zero wasn't a spell I could use lightly. It wasn't an ordinary ice spell – the Frenzor Assassin would easily break out of any normal ice spells without breaking a sweat. To immobilize him adequately, I had to use an extremely advanced ice spell.

Absolute Zero.

Even though I called it an ice spell, Absolute Zero was far beyond any ice technique. It was quite literally the process of bringing the temperature of my immediate vicinity down to zero Kelvin…or -273 degrees Celsius, where all atomic movement stopped completely. Heat was measured by the amount of movement of atoms and molecules, and no matter how cold there would usually be some miniscule activity in the particles that made up the building blocks of all matter. Only in the void where there were scarce amount of atoms would there be an absence of molecular movement, but even so outer space was still filled with plenty of stray hydrogen or even helium atoms – and these atoms were never completely at zero Kelvin (they wouldn't be drifting freely in the void otherwise).

Thus, rather than a proper ice spell, Absolute Zero was a much more advanced spell that dealt more on the atomic level than merely freeze stuff. Even so, the ice was formed precisely because of the complete lack of heat (in the form of molecular movement), so that was why so much ice was present. At such extreme temperatures, even metal became brittle, and the Frenzor Assassin's body was breaking apart not just biologically but also at the molecular level. It was a miracle that he was still in one piece, but I suspected his body wouldn't remain intact for long.

\"You might want to finish him off while he's still trapped in there. I doubt he'll be able to break free, but best to be safe.\"

\"Right.\" Jamie nodded in agreement, glancing warily at the frozen Frenzor Assassin. The guy was a ticking biological bomb. As long as he was around, he remained dangerous…even in death. The best way was to completely destroy him to the point where there wouldn't be a trace of his weaponized body left. The mercenary captain hefted up his enormous cannon and began casting one of his most powerful spells. With the Frenzor Assassin frozen solid, he had all the time in the world to complete the casting of such a strong spell.

I decided to stick around and watch as he obliterated the Frenzor Assassin, atomizing the poor guy and leaving not a single trace of the hulking killer. He ended up wrecking the corridor and erasing the piping and everything else, but that was a small price to pay for safety.

\"Great job, Senior Richard!\"

Harvey had elected to remain and watch, instead of fleeing for safety. His confidence and belief in me was so massive that he really thought he would be in no danger as long as it was me who was facing the enemy. The possibility that I might lose had never even crossed his mind.

Bloody hell, the kid was going to get himself killed one day.

\"Dude,\" I said disapprovingly, but Harvey cut me off before I could say another word. He was gushing so excitedly.

\"That was so awesome! To think you've expanded your repertoire of magic! Now you're able to cast such advanced ice spells! What are you going to learn next? Fire magic?\"

\"No, no. Ice and wood are the extent I can get to.\"

I almost exhausted myself to death just from casting Absolute Zero. There was no way I could learn other advanced elemental spells. Wood magic was all right because there was a technique that I could use to replenish my mana, and quite frankly wood magic wasn't as draining or complex as the other elements. Like I said, wood magic was more of an all-rounder. Versatile, jack of all trades, master of none. There probably wasn't any wood spell that was as powerful as Absolute Zero, for example.

In contrast, the other elements would have their own ultimate spells that were just as mana-consuming and powerful as Absolute Zero. Furthermore, the only reason why I managed to reach that far with ice magic was because of the Thousand year old ice essence I found in the Den of Dragons, which deepened my comprehension of ice magic. Without another coincidental miracle of that level, I wouldn't be able to master the advanced spells of any element so quickly.

Furthermore, with the insane mana consumption of advanced spells or ultimate elemental techniques, it wasn't practical to learn so many of them. I could only use one at a time – for example, if I used Absolute Zero, I would have no mana left to use any of the other elemental ultimate techniques. I could use Hunded-Colored Flowers, but quite frankly I wouldn't be able to absorb nearly enough mana to use another Absolute Zero or other elemental spells, not unless my opponent was weak enough to let me drain that amount of mana. And if he was, then it most probably meant he didn't have enough mana left to break out of Hundred-Colored Flowers, which in turn meant I wouldn't be able to absorb enough mana from him to cast an ultimate spell.

So no abusing or exploiting the system to spam ultimate elemental techniques or come up with busted combos. Reality was never that convenient. I had to mention that because I just knew a few readers would jump into the comments complaining about how I was stupid for not thinking of broken combos with my current spells, or how I should go and master every element in existence, as if it was so easy. Hell, no. Even though I \"mastered\" advanced wood magic, if I were to go toe-to-toe against a dedicated wood mage such as Cecilia Stuart or her father, I would get completely crushed. No contest. I would have no choice but to use my summoning magic to fight on par with Cecilia, and I doubted I could win against Lionel Stuart.

Dabbling in an element here and there did not automatically turned me into a master capable of rivaling those mages who had dedicated years of their lives to mastering just that one element. There was no way around it. In return for being flexible, I was just not as strong or skillful as masters who had chosen to practice that sole element.

That was why most summoners, such as Lilith Porter, chose to master a single element, and summon only monsters from that element. Mostly. At most they would take on a second element, but that was basically the extent of their exploration (I heard rumors that Lilith had expressed an interest in water magic recently). But if you were expecting me to learn advanced fire spells, advanced earth spells, or advanced lightning spells, then you were going to be sorely disappointed. A god of learning, I was not.

\"That's true. Most mages only learn two elements throughout their lives. It's going to be difficult to expand beyond that.\" Harvey was nodding in understanding, having heard or read all the reasonings behind the other mages' decisions to learn what they did. \"Unless you're a Verstaile Mage.\"

\"Even a Versatile Mage has…four elements at most? I don't know if he has gotten more, I've only read up to the point where he went to the desert to meet some fire spirit.\"

\"Wrong universe,\" Harvey told me plainly. \"Anyway, let's go back to the stadium. While we were busy down here, today's match has already begun. I can't wait to see who will make it to the semfinals! We'll be facing whoever won today in the semifinals!\"

\"Assuming we win our match against Saint Teresa Academy,\" I reminded him somewhat strongly. While I understood that it was natural for him to be confident, I was still the type who refused to count my chickens before they hatched. Before I even began to contemplate on the semifinals, I must get past the quarterfinals first. Everything else was secondary. It was useless to have all these big dreams, only to eat humble pie when you failed. Furthermore, allowing your mind to wander toward speculations of the future would only serve as a distraction. Best to focus on the present before you got too carried away with the future and ended up becoming complacent.

\"…let's go…\"

I was about to take another step, but a wave of dizziness hit me and I staggered weakly. Harvey caught me before I toppled over.

\"Senior Richard! What happened!? Are you all right?!\"

Clearly I was not, but I was too light-headed to make any sarcastic retort. Instead, I forced myself to nod.

\"I'm all right. Don't worry abot me. I'm just…a little tired.\"

\"Over-use of mana.\" Jamie came up and observed me, a stern expression on his face. Behind, his men were cleaning up the ruined corridor, scrubbing the remains of the Frenzor Assassin clean with magic, to ensure there was no chemical spill left behind. There were also a few wood mages and earth mages using their magic to restore and repair the devastated corridor. The mercenary captain's expression softened when he glanced back at his men, and he lowered his head slightly. \"Don't take this the wrong way. My men and I are very grateful to you for saving our lives. If you hadn't stopped the Frenzor Assassin, we would have suffered a lot of casualties. Many of us would have died.\"

\"…I know. I had no choice.\"

\"But still…that was reckless of you. Judging from the way you're keeling over, and the traces of raw mana left behind, you've not fully mastered Absolute Zero, have you? My guess is that it's been only a few days since you've finally grasped the basic execution of it…a week at most. Casting the ultimate ice spell when you still aren't completely ready…it's no wonder you over-used your mana. You still are not ready to cast that spell yet.\"

\"But if I didn't, he would have blown all of us up.\"

Honestly, that was the worst circumstances possible for me. In a tight, almost claustrophobic corridor where I couldn't use my summoning magic to its full potential (it was too small for any of my bigger Constellation spirits to manifest inside), I had no choice but to resort to other more esoteric means such as the ice magic I had only just recently learned.

\"That may be true,\" Jamie admitted grudgingly. \"As I said, you saved us and we're grateful for that.\"

\"Senior Richard is a hero!\" Harvey shouted excitedly. Both Jamie and I gave him a look that essentially said, shut up, and he obeyed.

\"Mana overuse is still not a good thing, though. You need to rest. You there, bring your senior to the infirmary and make sure he stays there until he recovers enough to return to his accommodation. Or better yet, take him back to Stuart Hotel and have him sleep the rest of the day off.\"

\"You can count on me!\" Harvey saluted, clearly pleased at being given the honor of escorting me, and then he gestured for me to follow him. \"Let's go, Senior Richard!\"

\"All right.\"

I sighed and complied for now. It sucked that I wouldn't be able to watch the match live, but I was practically dead on my feet. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to collapse on the ground and sleep. At least it was not as bad as that other time when I used the nuke spell.

If used correctly, Absolute Zero could be unleashed on the same scale as my nuke spell (Scorpio's Antares for those of you who have forgotten its name). That was how terrifying these ultimate elemental spells could be. Obviously, given my penchant for branching out and also my choice to specialize in summoning magic rather than focus on elemental magic, I would never be able to level my Absolute Zero spell to that level.

Only the very best and most powerful ice mages could. For me, ice magic was a tool to upgrade my summoning magic, a means to another ends. Otherwise I wouldn't be a summoner, I would be a pure ice mage.

Allowing Harvey to assist me, I began the long journey back to Stuart Hotel.